Existentialism is a Movement of the 20th Century - Essay Example

Existentialism Existentialism is a movement developed in the 20th century. The goal of the movement was to ensure people had freedom of determining the meaning of life instead of believing of the existence of a higher being. According to the group, this meant that there is no God and that human beings are free and accountable to their own lives. According to existentialist every action or decision made by an individual have consequences and fate of a person determined by the decisions made. The essay will focus on believes presented by Kierkegaard with regard to Existentialism and my take on the subject. Kierkegaard is known to be the father of existentialism. He is also a highly known philosopher of the 19th century. Kierkegaard developed the idea of living life in a variety of stages. Aesthetical, ethical and the religious were his divisions of life. In his work, he claimed that he went through similar experiences during his lifetime, and he used the stages to establish his own philosophy of life and of human existence. He assessed the first two stages with regard to normal set of believes and behavior. However, the last stage developed based on personal and non-rational opinion “leap of faith” (Cooper 517). The aesthetical stage was characterized by immediacy and failure, to reflect with seriousness upon the nature of a person’s life. The people in this stage were defined to like material things and fulfilling their desires as they occurred. People become slaves to their senses and they tend to want to fulfill desires propelled by their senses. People would tend to fulfill needs they consider appropriate and other people’s opinion did not count. The stage represents two types of lifestyles; reflective and non-reflective immediacy. Alcohol, sex and drugs are some illustrations of satisfying unrefined immediacy. An individual acts without thinking because the satisfaction expected does not require thinking, refined immediacy, on the other hand characterized by thoughtful planning (Cooper 518). Sometimes people think before undertaking a certain action, but the thoughts do not put into consideration moral and ethical values. Reflection of the lifestyle embarked not put into consideration. Planning made in order to gain full satisfaction of the lifestyle. According to Kierkegaard this pleasures of life will eventually vanish, and an individual will be caught in a moment of despair (Kierkegaard n. p). In the end, one will get tired of the life of luxury and satisfaction would hardly be achieved. He considered this stage significant because after the moment of despair one develops a sense of ethical understanding. The ethical stage according to Kierkegaard provides a meaningful existence. The stage involves adhering to personal morals and ethics, pleasure and emotions are not the main factors towards happiness and satisfaction. Reason and a duty to fulfill a certain feeling engulf the stage. The ethical stage represents religious development and the responsibility that follows religious believes. One becomes a commitment participant in society. Image and reputation become the virtue of a person in this stage. Connection to the family members and friends becomes very significant, and marriage is a marvelous example of commitment represented in this stage. A mature person who has undergone a stage of mistakes and errors in life represents ethical stage. The ethical stage remains in a person’s life even after moving to the next stage of life; religion. In the aesthetical stage, one lacks the will of commitment and only personal satisfaction matters. For instance, when Kierkegaard experienced this stage he liked the life of pleasure and despised commitment that is why he broke his engagement to Regina Olsen a woman from Copenhagen. After he had broken the engagement, he began searching for a reason of life. He was tired with the pleasures of life. The personal letters he wrote during this period were mainly based on his feelings and thoughts of life where he stated that his goal in life was directed not on his knowledge but rather on the actions. The final stage experienced by Kierkegaard is the religious stage. This stage was in contrast with the ethical stage, since the stage was also represented by strong faith and beliefs. A “leap of faith” occurs in this stage (Cooper 520). Two kinds of people are represented by this stage. Religiousness A and religiousness B. in order to be considered in either stage one need to accept the faith and explanation given in both stages. In Kierkegaard writing of “the knight of faith”, he provided the example of Abraham who acted purely on faith without thinking and reasoning. Abraham acts in true faith after he was asked to sacrifice his only son. In this case, Abraham acted in pure faith, and he did not ask if there was anything wrong with killing his son. Morally killing is not acceptable. Nevertheless, Abraham did not put into consideration ethical reasoning and decided he would act according to his faith. Abraham’s faith pleases God and he sends an angel to command him to stop with the sacrifice. Religiousness A and B differ greatly. However, some form of blindness is seen in both faiths, religiousness B, involves some thoughts and reasoning before one acts. Religiousness B involves possessing a unique faith, engulfed with having personal freedom to search personal feelings and insights in an effort to achieve satisfaction, “what is important is what we do about ourselves, how we choose to live, the decisions we make” (Pojman 523). Religiousness B involves a number of questions about beliefs and faith. The people in religiousness A have a strong faith in what they believe, and they do not question the type of belief they follow. The people in religious A go to church and do whatever they are asked by the priest. These people do not make their own decisions with regard to life but rather they allow the doctrines and beliefs of the church guide their lives. Kierkegaard believed in religiousness B, which provided freedom and the will to think for oneself and believe in what pleases the person the most. He believed that religion should be based on ethics and moral standards rather than acting blindly to something, we have so much questioning. He believed in the three stages of life where in each stage one gets to learn about something. Aesthetical and ethical stages of a person’s life will remain even after going through the religious stage. The religious stage will be guided by the first two stages “The only fundamental basis for understanding is that one understands only in proportion to becoming himself that which he understands” (Pojman 525). Existentialism as presented by Kierkegaard angered me. He followed a religious faith that he could not explain himself. His religious believes as presented by religiousness B has no basis and provides a lot of confusion. Religious faith is strong and so many people depend on it. The bible presents a number of religious faiths that provide facts that God exist. Abraham could have acted otherwise, but it was real that God had commanded him to test his faith. His faith eventually saved his son because he did not doubt God and believed in Him. Ethically it could have been wrong that is why God did not allow Abraham to kill his son. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a sheer proof of existence of God and people are not allowed to question his existence. The three stages presented by Kierkegaard may be true. Some people go through similar stages in life before finding peace in God and religion. God allows his people to experience that kind of life so that later in life they can get control of their lives. After becoming religious and having strong faith in God, it is difficult to turn back to the evil ways presented by stage one. Therefore, Kierkegaard belief of religion being presented by personal thoughts and beliefs are not sufficiently convincing. This is because many people will take matters in their own hands, and do things because their personal religious beliefs allow them to do so. Philosophers, to confuse people and instill a new type of belief in them, developed existentialism. Religious faith is real, and God existence is unquestionable because the philosophers still have the problem of answering the mystery of life. God is the only Supreme Being and is answerable to all the mysteries and wonders of life. People should; therefore, believe in his existence and reduce the many doubts they have towards religion and faith. Work cited Cooper, David E. Existentialism: A Reconstruction. Oxford: Blackwell, 2010. Print. Kierkegaard, Soren. The original reap of faith. Existential primer. Retrieved on 2nd may 2012 from http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/kierkegaard.shtml Pojman, Louis P. Philosophical Traditions: A Text with Readings, 2nd edition. Thomson / Wadsworth, 2006. Print. Shakespeare, Steven. “An Introduction to Kierkegaard”: A great and very simple intro to the life and ideas of Kierkegaard. You tube. Retrieved on 2nd may 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYKST6gUjec Read More